THE BANNER on the terrace at The Town End said it all: “There’s Only One Kevin McHugh. 438 appearances. 186 goals.”
Finn Harps 1 Bohemians 0
On the night when Finn Harps said farewell to Kevin McHugh, Ryan Curran netted the only goal of the game as Ollie Horgan’s team finished the season on a winning note.
It was a goal out of nothing, the Derryman turning on the edge of the box and firing high past Dean Delaney.
The goal caught everyone, especially Delaney, by surprise and, if anything, it was a goal that was like a throw-back to the days when the man vacating the number 10 shirt was at his peak.
This was a night and a game that was all about one man.
McHugh, who first played for Harps in August 1998, has retired from senior football, though his departure came a few weeks earlier, after a freak injury at the start of this month saw him sever a finger.
[adrotate group=”80″]At half-time, the Killea man, was introduced to the crowd, many of whom had come to acclaim a man whose goals lit up many nights over a career that spanned three decades.
Perhaps just how much Harps will miss a man of his standing is shown by the fact that Curran’s goal put him to the top of the club’s scoring chart for the term – alongside Sean Houston on seven goals.
The Harps faithful gave him a fitting send off at the break and were able to give Horgan and his squad their approval at the end of a campaign that has seen the Ballybofey brigade achieve their goal of top flight survival.
Harps’ place in the 2017 Premier Division was secured on Monday night when Wexford Youths lost 5-0 at Cork City.
[adrotate group=”50″]That result meant that, for the first time since they first won promotion back in 1996 that Harps stayed up after winning promotion.
Harps hadn’t Bohemians since those heady days of 1999 when, in February of that year, a Jonathan Speak goal gave them a 1-0 win at Dalymount Park, but they ended that sequence here.
Horgan continued his rotation of his goalkeepers with Richard Brush coming in for Ciaran Gallagher – a change that prevented Gallagher from moving level with Brush on games played for the season.
Brush was called into action in the 20th minute when Derek Pendergast nodded down from Lorcan Fitzgerald’s floating free-kick, but the Harps ‘keeper got down to get the touch that was needed.
[adrotate group=”38″]That came after Mark Quigley prodded over the target as Bohs probed in the early exchanges.
But Harps hit the front just before the break as Curran crashed to the net. Before then, the closest they’d come to taking the lead was a chance that saw Thomas McMonagle fire into the arms of Delany after Ethan Boyle directed Tony McNamee’s corner back across goal.
McMonagle, McNamee and Ruairi Keating, alongside Brush, were the others to get promoted to the starting XI for a game that, aside from the McHugh tributes, was every inch the end-of-season non-contest it was.
Curran’s goal was enough for the win, with Harps surviving scares when Kurtis Byrne drove over and Mark Quigley volleyed just past the target, while Quigley’s glancing header was kept out by Brush.
[adrotate group=”85″]BJ Banda and Dave Scully both had chances for the home side late in the night, but Curran’s goal was the only separator as an era ended.
Finn Harps: Richard Brush; Ethan Boyle, Packie Mailey, Thomas McMonagle, Ciaran Coll; Michael Funston (Dave Scully 75), Barry Molloy, Tony McNamee (Daire Ó Baoill 89), Ryan Curran; Sean Houston; Ruairi Keating (BJ Banda 82).
Bohemians: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Dan Byrne, Derek Pendergast (Ian Morris 62), Lorcan Fitzgerald; Keith Buckley, Roberto Lopes, Eoin Wearan Patrick Kavanagh; Mark Quigley, Kurtis Byrne.
Referee: John McLoughlin.
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